Cartridge Deflector and Scope Mount for Top Ejection Rifles

ABSTRACT

A combined cartridge deflector and scope mount for attachment to a lever action top ejection rifle. The cartridge deflecting component, by means of three deflection elements, changes the trajectory of both the ejected whole cartridges, and the empty shell casings, from vertical and to the rear of the rifle to a trajectory of slightly above horizontal and to the right of the rifle, as seen from the shooter&#39;s position. The scope mount component of the invention allows a riflescope to be mounted directly above the ejection port of the receiver, the conventional and most desirable position. The invention, in many cases can be attached to the rifle using existing screw holes without the need for a gunsmith.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/473,280, filed on Apr. 8, 2011 and U.S. Utility patent application Ser. No. 13/440,620, filed on Apr. 5, 2012, that was published and abandoned. This Utility Patent Application also claims benefit of Provisional Patent Application No. 62/051,976 filed Sep. 18, 2014.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to the field of firearms and ammunition.

Various manufacturers have produced lever action repeating rifles for well over a century. Generally, these rifles operate by thrusting the lever, located beneath the rifle, in a downward motion, which expels the spent shell casing or the unfired rifle cartridge. Raising the lever to its original position loads a new cartridge into the chamber, ready to be fired.

Two types of ejection systems are most common—side ejection and top ejection. Side ejection lever action repeating rifles have the advantage of accommodating a riflescope mounted directly above the receiver, just ahead of the stock of the rifle, the conventional and most functional position for a riflescope, directly in front of the shooter's eye. Top ejection rifles are unable to accommodate a riflescope mounted in this position since the fired shell casings and unfired full cartridges are ejected upward from the rifle receiver and back over the shooter's shoulder. Various remedies, such as side-mounted and forward-mounted scopes, are available, but have not become popular by any means.

Until recently most lever action rifles, such as the Winchester Model 1894, were considered short-range guns, accurate up to approximately 100 yards. Accuracy at this distance is near the upper limit of capability of a shooter with normal eyesight using open sights. In the past few years improved ammunition has become available for these guns that has increased the accuracy to a range of up to 300 yards. Accuracy with these rifles at ranges beyond 100 yards requires a riflescope.

Accordingly, there is a need for a method of changing the direction of cartridges and shell casings ejected from top ejection rifles to a more nearly horizontal path away from the rifle, and a method of mounting of a riflescope in the conventional manner described above.

Buffum (U.S. Patent #D270, 078) discloses a cartridge case deflector attachable to the receiver of a rifle, intended to be used for deflection of shell casings only. This invention is intended to stop the upward motion of the shell casing by expenditure of its kinetic energy, after which the shell casing would fall vertically due to gravity and would not have the capability of the present invention, viz: the ability to cause a full cartridge or a shell casing to be redirected horizontally away from the rifle. This invention does not incorporate a scope mount component in its design.

Householder (U.S. Pat. No. 7,493,720) describes a spent cartridge case deflector that can be attached to the upper receiver rail or to the carrying handle of a semiautomatic or automatic rifle that has a side ejection port. It has a pivoting deflector plate that can be positioned down over the side ejection port to direct ejected cartridge casings toward the ground. This invention cannot be attached to the side of a rifle receiver and positioned directly above the receiver, nor is it capable of redirecting spent shell cases and full cartridges horizontally away from the rifle. This invention does not incorporate a scope mount component in its design.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a cartridge and shell casing deflector and scope mount comprising a vertical flat surface for attachment to the left side of the receiver of a top ejection lever action rifle, a deflecting component comprised of three deflection elements, and a scope mount component with two scope mounting rings.

Both the ejected cartridges and the ejected shell casings make contact with two of these deflecting elements and by which contact are deflected from a vertical and rearward trajectory to a trajectory slightly above horizontal and in a direction to the right of the rifle as viewed from the shooter's position.

Previously, most top ejection rifles could not accommodate a top-mounted riflescope installed conventionally above the receiver and placing its focal lens near the shooter's eye, the desired position. Alternatives such as side-mounted and front-mounted scopes have functional and aesthetic drawbacks and, as such, have had only limited acceptance.

The present invention, combining a cartridge and shell casing deflector with a scope mount, solves this shortcoming of these types of rifles by deflecting the spent shell casings and unfired cartridges away from the position above the receiver of the rifle where the riflescope would ideally be located, and by providing a method of mounting the riflescope in the desired position, directly above the receiver.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view taken from above, to the left and to the rear of the invention.

FIG. 2 is left side elevation

FIG. 3 is a rear elevation with the invention attached to the rifle receiver.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

All references to the drawings, such as “front”, “rear”, “left”, and “right”) are from the position of the shooter, with the rifle in the shooting position.

The present invention is a combined cartridge and shell casing deflector and scope mount for attachment to a lever action top ejection rifle. It is comprised of three main components: an attachment surface, shown as a flat plate 1 (FIGS. 1,2), a deflection component 8 (FIG. 1) and a scope mount component. There are no moving parts.

The deflection portion 8 (FIGS. 1,3) is comprised of three deflection elements: a curved primary deflection element 4 a (FIG. 2), and two secondary deflection elements 4 and 5 (FIG. 2). Secondary deflections take place on the undersides of deflection elements 4 and 5.

The scope mount consists of two scope mount uprights 11 (FIG. 2) and two scope rings, each ring comprised of the right hand side 12 (FIGS. 1,3), which is a formed extension of the respective scope mount upright. The left hand side is a separate half ring. These two sides are joined 10 (FIG. 1) to hold the scope in place, and are held together by screws.

FIG. 3 is a rear view of the invention attached to the receiver 6 of a rifle, shown in cross-section, with the deflector extending over top of the receiver and angled from the lower left to the upper right. As the lever (not shown) of the rifle is thrust downward, an extraction pin (not shown) in the breech bolt 7 of the rifle moves rearward extracting the cartridge or shell casing from the rifle chamber. As the forward end of the cartridge or shell casing clears the chamber it is forced upward and backward, rotating around its base, or rear end, which is held in place by the extraction pin at the top of the breech bolt.

As an unfired cartridge is extracted from the chamber this upward and rearward rotation causes contact with the primary deflection element 4 a at the narrowest part of its shell casing, that part being just rearward of the bullet (projectile). The primary deflection element forms the forward edge of the deflector and is shaped in a curve 4 a. The radius of this curve is identical to, or nearly identical to, the radius of the arc described by the cartridge's contact point with the primary deflection element as it rotates around its fulcrum, the extraction pin. This contact deflects the front of the cartridge to the right, and as the cartridge continues its upward and rearward rotation, past the vertical position, the base of the cartridge is released from the extraction pin in the breech bolt. The base of the cartridge then rises due the rotational kinetic energy of the cartridge and makes contact with the secondary deflection element 5 and this contact propels the cartridge away from the rifle to the right on a trajectory somewhat above the horizontal.

Empty shell casings are ejected form the rifle in a similar manner except that the shell casing makes contact with the primary deflection element 4 a immediately behind the point where its taper, or neck-down, begins. As the shell casing rotates around the extraction pin fulcrum and is then released, its base makes contact with the secondary deflection element 4 and is deflected to the right and at an angle somewhat above the horizontal.

The invention is constructed such that the centers of the scope mount rings are positioned directly above the centerline of the rifle receiver and at a height that provides adequate clearance from the bottom of a mounted riflescope for the ejected cartridges and shell casings.

The preferred method of attachment of the invention would be using metal screws to attach it to the left side of the rifle receiver, but other methods are not excluded. Depicted in FIG. 2 are screw attachment holes 2,3 positioned so as to match existing tapped holes in the Winchester Model 1894, the most common of the lever action top ejection rifles. This depiction is for illustration purposes and is not intended to limit the application of this invention to any make or model of rifle.

This invention is of three pieces and all could be stamped from sheet metal or extruded, or otherwise formed from a variety of metallic or non-metallic materials.

While a particular form of the invention has been illustrated and described, it will be apparent that various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, the invention, while specifically designed for lever action rifles, could be modified for use with other types of top ejection rifles. 

What is claimed:
 1. A cartridge deflector and scope mount attachable to a top ejection lever action rifle comprising: an attachment surface; a cartridge and shell casing deflecting component; a scope mount component.
 2. The cartridge deflector and scope mount of claim 1 wherein the primary deflection element forms the curved forward edge of the deflecting component of the invention, said curved edge having a radius identical to, or nearly identical to, that of the arc described by the unfired cartridge's contact point with the primary deflection element as it rotates around its fulcrum on extraction.
 3. The cartridge deflector and scope mount of claim 1 wherein each ejected cartridge and shell casing makes contact with the deflection component twice: once with its front portion and once with its rear end.
 4. The cartridge deflector and scope mount of claim 1 wherein the secondary deflection element of a shell casing is the flat area on the deflection component directly to the rear of and on the right side of the primary deflection element.
 5. The cartridge deflector and scope mount of claim 1 wherein the secondary deflection element of an unfired cartridge is the flat area near the top and rear of, and on the right side of the deflection component.
 6. The cartridge deflector and scope mount of claim 1 wherein the deflection surfaces make use of the rotational energy of the shell casings and the cartridges being ejected from the rifle to redirect their flight.
 7. The cartridge deflector and scope mount of claim 1 wherein the ejected cartridges and shell casings are deflected to the right of the rifle and slightly above the horizontal.
 8. The cartridge deflector and scope mount of claim 1 wherein the deflector component of the invention is positioned between the front scope mount upright and ring and the rear scope mount upright and ring.
 9. The cartridge deflector and scope mount of claim 1 wherein the scope mount component is positioned such that the riflescope is held directly above the cartridge and shell casing deflector and directly above the ejection port of the rifle receiver.
 10. The cartridge deflector and scope mount of claim 1 wherein the main body of the invention is of one piece, not including the two half rings that are attached to the main body by screws. 